Scrapbook kit with customizable photographic images

ABSTRACT

A scrapbook kit containing customizable photographic images.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention pertains to scrapbook kits that includephotographic images.

Many people keep scrapbooks to memorialize significant events such asweddings, vacations, graduations, holidays, etc. In some instances, onescrapbook may be used to memorialize a variety of such events, whereeach page of the scrapbook is dedicated to a single event. In otherinstances, a single scrapbook may be devoted to an event or category.For example, a scrapbook may be devoted to one or more of a person'schildren with individual pages or groups of consecutive pagesrepresenting specific events such as birthdays, graduation, etc. Anotherexample could be a scrapbook devoted to family vacations.

The scrapbook industry has become quite lucrative. Not only do mostcraft and hobby stores include several aisles devoted to scrapbookmaterials, but there are quite a number of specialty stores, web sites,etc. specifically devoted to the sale of scrapbook items, such asscrapbook kits.

Scrapbook kits facilitate the creation and development of a scrapbook.Typically, a scrapbook kit will include a variety of prepackagedmaterials designed to be inserted into a scrapbook, where theprepackaged materials each relate to a certain event or subject. Forexample, some existing scrapbook kits are intended to memorializeholidays, such as Christmas, and might include stickers, cardboardcut-outs, letter-sized paper with printed designs, each displayingsubject matter relevant to the holiday.

One problem with existing scrapbook kits is that the prepackagedmaterials must, of necessity, be fairly generic to an event or subject.Thus the aforementioned scrapbook kit pertaining to Christmas wouldinclude a variety of materials relating to the Christmas holiday, suchas a Snowman sticker or a cardboard cutout of a Christmas tree. Thescrapbook kit, however, would not include material specific to anindividual's experience on that Christmas holiday. Instead, thepurchaser must provide their own materials, e.g. pictures, handwrittennotes, letters, etc. to individually customize the scrapbook.

What is desired, therefore, is an improved product that better enables aperson to reflect their individual experiences in a scrapbook.

The foregoing and other objectives, features, and advantages of theinvention will be more readily understood upon consideration of thefollowing detailed description of the invention, taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A shows a front view of an exemplary scrapbook kit having assortedprepackaged scrapbook materials, and including one or more photographicmembers.

FIG. 1B shows a back view of the exemplary scrapbook kit of FIG. 1.

FIG. 1C shows exemplary prepackaged scrapbook materials that may beincluded in the scrapbook kit of FIG. 1.

FIG. 2 shows an enlarged view of the photographic member of FIG. 1 witha line of weakness.

FIG. 3 shows an alternative photographic member with a line of weakness

FIG. 4 shows an exemplary manner in which photographic members may beinserted into a scrapbook.

FIG. 5 shows a companion kit to the scrapbook kit of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 shows an alternate photographic member without a line ofweakness.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1A shows an exemplary scrapbook kit 10 intended to memorialize aperson's vacation to Alaska. The scrapbook kit 10 has individualscrapbook members 12 that are each either intended to be inserted into ascrapbook or have components intended to be inserted into a scrapbook.For example, FIG. 1C shows exemplary scrapbook members 12 of thescrapbook 10 that include a letter-sized papers 14 and 16 having printedgraphical imagery associated with Alaska, a letter sized backing 18 forone or more stickers 19, a cardboard cutout 20 having printed graphicalimagery associated with Alaska, and one or more photographic members 22.The letter-sized paper 14 is typically printed on standard writing paperand intended to be pasted directly into a scrapbook at the firstscrapbook page related to the Alaskan trip memorialized in thescrapbook. Additional material, such as pictures, handwritten notes,stickers, etc. may then be placed on the paper 14, if and as desired.The scrapbook members 14, 16, 18, 19, 20, and 22 may be packaged in ascrapbook kit 10 having a transparent wrapper. A spine 13 is used forstructural support to stiffen the packaged scrapbook kit 10.Furthermore, the spine 13 is usually folded so as to partially encloseat least one or more of the scrapbook members 12, thus retaining themembers in an orderly configuration within the packaged scrapbook kit10.

The letter-sized paper 16 may have a printed background image similar tothat of the paper 14, but also include several secondary images 17superimposed on the background image. Thus an individual whoincorporates the paper 16 into a scrapbook has a number of creativeoptions available, such as cutting the paper 16 into the individualimages 17 and pasting them individually into desired scrapbook pages,gluing pictures over the images 17 before inserting the paper 16 intothe scrapbook, or simply inserting the page 16 into the scrapbook.Similarly, the stickers 19 and the cutout 20 may be insertedindividually into scrapbook pages, or placed over the papers 14 and 16,as desired.

The scrapbook kit 10 preferably includes one or more photographicmembers 22 each having a printed image 24 of photographic quality. Thephotographic member 22 is shown in an enlarged view in FIG. 2. Theprinted image 24 preferably shows a scene or object generally associatedwith the theme of the scrapbook kit 10. Thus where the scrapbook kit 10pertains to an Alaskan vacation, the printed image 24 may be a pictureof an orca, as shown in FIG. 1C and FIG. 2, a picture of Alaskanlandscape, scenic attractions, or any other desired picture associatedwith Alaska. It should be understood that, although the precedingdescription pertains to an exemplary Alsakan scrapbook kit, otherscrapbook kits may be associated with other locales, events, etc. Thephotographic member 22 also preferably includes a line of weakness 26that allows a person to sever a selected portion of the photographicmember 22—either partially or wholly—from its remainder. For example,FIG. 2 shows a photographic member 22 having a line of weakness 26forming a closed loop such that a person could selectively punch out theportion of the image 24 surrounding the orca.

As seen in FIG. 4, the photographic member 22 gives a scrapbook usercreative latitude unavailable with existing scrapbook kits or otherscrapbook accessories. Using the photographic member 22 shown in FIG. 2as an example, once the image portion corresponding to the orca ispunched out, a person can insert the punched-out potion individuallyinto a scrapbook, either on one of the papers 14 or 16, or on its ownscrapbook page as desired. Additionally (or alternatively), once theportion of the image 24 defined by the line of weakness is punched out,the remainder of the image 24 may serve as a frame for an underlyingimage, which can be another image included in the scrapbook kit or animage provided by the scrapbook user, for example a photograph of aperson or locale. Still another option is to simply insert thephotographic member 22 into the scrapbook 10 intact, without removingthe portion of the image 24 defined by the line of weakness.

Inclusion of a line of weakness 26 in the photographic member 22 permitsa scrapbook user to customize the image 24 to be specific to the user'sexperience. For example, the photographic member 22 may show an image 24of a totem pole where a line of weakness 26 defines an upper area of thetotem pole, that, once punched out, provides a frame for an underlyingphotograph showing the face of the user. A photographic member 22showing an image 24 of a herd of animals may define a line of weaknessaround a selective one or more individual animals to provide a frame foran image of a person's pet. The punched-out portion of the image may besuperimposed on a photograph taken by the user. Other such creativeoptions can be easily conceived.

Alternatively, the line of weakness 26 does not have to define a closedloop, to facilitate the creation of a three-dimensional scrapbookinsert. Thus, if the image 24 of the photographic member is a totempole, the line of weakness may allow a person to punch out a portion ofthe totem pole while leaving the punched-out section attached to thephotographic member 22 such that the totem pole can “stand up.”Alternatively, an image of a native flower may have a line or lines ofweakness allowing the outer boundaries of the flower to be lifted upwardfrom the photographic member 22.

The line of weakness 26 preferably corresponds to an object depicted inthe image 24, such as the orca of FIG. 2. Such a line of weaknessfacilitates the separate insertion into a scrapbook of any punched-outportion as well as the remaining frame. Though FIG. 2 shows a line ofweakness 26 running slightly to the outside of the object outlined(i.e., the orca) the line of weakness could outline the object moreprecisely, if desired. The line of weakness 26 may be formed in thephotographic member 22 in any convenient manner, such as with a die or alaser.

FIG. 3 shows an alternate photographic member 30 having a first image 32of photographic quality bordering a second image 34, also ofphotographic quality. The second image includes an object 36. In thisfigure, the first image 32 is a general landscape photograph showingnative wildflowers, the second image 36 is a landscape photograph of amountain, which is the object 36. The photographic member 30 includes afirst line of weakness 38 generally defining a closed loop around theborder of the second image 34. The photographic member 30 also defines asecond line of weakness 40 generally defining a closed loop around themountain 36.

The photographic member 30 provides a number of unique methods ofinsertion into a scrapbook. For example, a person may use the line ofweakness 40 to punch out the object 36 (the mountain) leaving aremaining frame and insert the two pieces in a scrapbook in a manneridentical to that described with respect to the photographic member 22of FIG. 2. Alternatively, a person could use the line of weakness 38 topunch out the second image 34, leaving a remaining frame and insertthose two pieces in a scrapbook in the manner just described. Stillanother alternative would be to use both lines of weakness 38 and 40 tocreate a punched-out object 36 and two frame members i.e., theremainders of the images 32 and 34, respectively, with which to frameother images, which may be included in the scrapbook or provided by theuser, as desired.

Although FIG. 3 depicts a photographic member 30 having a first line ofweakness 38 that encloses a second line of weakness 40, it may bedesirable to include plural lines of weakness in other configurations.Thus a photographic member 30 depicting plural adjacent objects mayinclude a line of weakness around a portion of each object.

FIG. 4 shows a companion kit 50 generally associated with the scrapbookkit 10, but intended to be provided separately. The companion kit 50 mayinclude individual members 52 comprising the aforementioned paper 16,the stickers 19 on backing 18, the cardboard member 20, and preferablyone or more photographic members 22 as previously described. Unlike thescrapbook kit 10, which is associated with a general locale or event,the companion kit 50 is intended to be associated with a more specificaspect of the locale or event associated with the scrapbook kit 10. Forexample, if the scrapbook kit 10 pertains generally to an Alaskanvacation, that scrapbook kit could include a paper 14 showing a generic,well known Alaskan landmark or icon (such as Mt. McKinley or a nativetotem pole), a paper 16, stickers 19, cardboard member 20 andphotographic members 22 likewise displaying relatively generic Alaskanimages.

Continuing with this Alaska example, the companion kit, conversely, mayinclude any or all of a paper 16, stickers 19, a cardboard member 20 orone or more photographic members 22 that pertain to a specific city orlocale in Alaska (e.g. Juneau, Sitka, Fairbanks, Denali National Park,etc.) Therefore a person taking an Alaskan vacation can easily customizea scrapbook to the specific places or events attended. The companion kit50 also permits the most efficient marketing and distribution ofscrapbook accessory materials because the generic Alaska scrapbook, forexample, could be marketed throughout Alaska or other regions, while theindividual companion kits could be marketed specifically in the localesor events to which they pertain. In this manner a person vacationing inAlaska could purchase the scrapbook kit 10 prior to departure or in anylocale in Alaska, and purchase only those companion kits 50 found alongthe specific vacation route taken. Such a marketing strategy would havemuch better appeal to local retailers because those retailers would notbe competing with retailers outside their region.

While the photographic members 22 are novel, and have advantages notrealized by existing scrapbook kits, the present inventors realized thatthe photographic members 22, like other existing scrapbook kit members,suffer from one common disadvantage. When users inserts a scrapbook kitmember into a scrapbook, they tend to do so in a substantially permanentmanner. That is to say, scrapbook kit members, such as stickers,cardboard cutouts, etc. are pasted into a scrapbook kit using anadhesive, after which, it is extraordinarily inconvenient to rearrangethe members to a different page, for example. The photographic members22, while permitting a user to exercise a greater degree of creativitywhen initially inserting the photographic member into the scrapbook,nonetheless retains the disadvantage, in existing scrapbooks, of beingnon-adjustable. Although a user could, for example, apply an adhesiveonly around the perimeter of a photographic member 22, for example,retaining the ability to later remove the inner image by breaking theline of weakness, then moving the inner image elsewhere, this would beless than ideal because, by applying the adhesive only around theperimeter, the photographic member would not lie flush with the page asthe page is turned when perusing through the scrapbook, tending to tearor otherwise deform the scrapbook.

Referring to FIG. 6, a novel solution is disclosed. A scrapbook member60 may comprise a backing 62 and a self-adhesive sticker portion 64mounted to the backing. Preferably, the self-adhesive sticker portion64, like the photographic members 22 displays an image of photographicquality. Rather than comprising lines of weakness, from which a user canmanually break the image into predefined portions, the self adhesivesticker portion 64 may simply be cut into predefined sections such as66, 68, and 70, each of those sections being selectively andindependently removable from the backing 62.

Like the photographic member 22, a scrapbook user may elect to separateone or more of the individual sections 66, 68, or 70 from the backingand insert them individually into a scrapbook. For example, section 66could be individually inserted around a picture of the user, section 68could likewise be individually inserted to serve as a frame of anotherimage, and section 70 could be inserted individually into a scrapbook.Unlike photographic member 22, however, a user may insert the entirephotographic scrapbook member 60 into a scrapbook and retain the abilityto later easily reconfigure the scrapbook member 60 by simply peelingaway an inner image and putting it elsewhere.

Other options are also retained. For example, consider the scrapbookmember 60, shown in FIG. 6 and having a first outer rectangular boundaryframe section 66, a central section 70 having an outer irregularboundary 70 and an intermediate section 68 having an outer boundaryaligned with the adjacent rectangular boundary of section 66, and aninner irregular boundary adjacent the outer boundary of the centralsection 70. Each of these sections may selectively display an image ofphotographic quality, and which may or may not be coextensive with thephotographic images of the other sections. In other words, someembodiments may display a single photographic image across all of thesections 66, 68, and 70, or other embodiments may use separatephotographic images for one or more of the respective sections.

A user may initially elect to insert the scrapbook member 60 into ascrapbook, completely intact, by simply applying an adhesive to thebacking and pasting it into the page of a scrapbook. Some years later,the user may again visit the locale shown in the scrapbook member andobtain several photographs of the user. The user may the, at that timeyears later, remove the central region 70 and move it to a differentpage, remove the intermediate region 68 and move it to a different page,using the region 68 as a frame for one of the photographs of the user,and also remove the region 66, paste another user photograph over thebacking 62 and then reinsert the region 66, with its self adhesivebacking, as a frame over the user photograph.

Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, the present inventors also realized thatthe spine 13, previously discussed, has previously only been used asadvertising material for the scrapbook kit. For example, the spinetypically depicts promotional or marketing information such as the titleof the kit, pricing and content information, copyright information,barcodes, etc., all superimposed over imagery associated with thescrapbook kit. The spine, however, while retaining the scrapbook kit,has not been used or marketed as part of the scrapbook kit, because thespine is often too large to be inserted into the page of a scrapbook,and more importantly, because the marketing information would detractfrom its placement in a scrapbook, i.e. a user would not want any of thephrases “acid and lignin free” or “Alaska scrapbooking” or a barcode inthe scrapbook itself. However, the present inventors realized that muchof the promotional imagery on the spine 13 of the scrapbook kit, couldbe made useful for the scrapbook kit simply by including the lines ofweakness previously described with respect to the photographic members22, or alternatively, by forming the spine of self-adhesive material ona backing, with certain selective promotional imagery cut intoindividually removable pieces, like the scrapbook members 60. Forexample, the spine 13 could include promotional images 72, 74, and 76,each bounded by a line of weakness such that a user could manuallyseparate those images and place it into the scrapbook. The disclosedspine 13 therefore adds to the value of the scrapbook kit because itallows more usable features to be included in scrapbook kit withoutadding more material.

It should be understood that although much of the foregoing descriptionof the disclosed scrapbook kit 10 and the companion kit 50 was discussedin relation to scrapbook materials pertaining to an Alaskan vacation,the disclosed scrapbook kit and companion kit is not limited by thisexample. For example, scrapbook kits and companion kits may relate to awide variety of vacation destinations. Further, the disclosed scrapbookkit and companion kit may pertain not only to vacations, but a widevariety of other significant events or subjects, such as holidays,institutions, sports events, etc. For example, a scrapbook kit 10 couldpertain generally to college football, with individual componentsdepicting generic college football imagery such as the college footballHall of Fame, college football icons, etc., while companion kits 50 aremarketed specific to individual bowls, individual events or individualteams. In the same vein, a scrapbook kit 10 could pertain generally to aparticular sports team while a series of companion kits 50 may bemarketed specific to individual players, individual games, opponents, orother selected aspect of the team depicted by the scrapbook kit. Othercreative permutations of scrapbook kits 10 and companion kits 50 mayeasily be created.

The terms and expressions which have been employed in the foregoingspecification are used therein as terms of description and not oflimitation, and there is no intention, in the use of such terms andexpressions, of excluding equivalents of the features shown anddescribed or portions thereof, it being recognized that the scope of theinvention is defined and limited only by the claims which follow.

1. In combination with a scrapbook kit, a member comprising: (a) abacking; and (b) a plurality of members, each independently andselectively removable from said backing, and each displaying an image ofphotographic quality, where each of said plurality of members shares aboundary with at least one other of said plurality of members.
 2. Thecombination of claim 1 where every one of the members selectivelyremovable from said backing displays an image of photographic quality.3. The combination of claim 1 where a first said members forms a framearound a second said members.
 4. The combination of claim 3 where saidfirst and second members display respective portions of the samephotographic image.
 5. The combination of claim 4 where a third saidmember forms a frame around said first member.
 6. The combination ofclaim 5 where said third member displays an image different from thatdisplayed by said first and second members.
 7. In combination with ascrapbook kit, a spine member having a first portion displayingmarketing text and a second portion displaying an image associated withthe content of said scrapbook kit, said image bounded by at least one ofa line of weakness or a cut separating said second portion from saidfirst portion.
 8. The combination of claim 7 where said spine is foldedto at least partially enclose one or more products contained within saidscrapbook kit.
 9. The combination of claim 8 where said spine providesstructural support for said scrapbook kit.
 10. In combination with ascrapbook kit having one or more scrapbook products, a spine memberhaving a folded portion that at least partially encloses at least one ofsaid products, and a second portion displaying an image associated withthe content of said scrapbook kit, said image bounded by at least one ofa line of weakness or a cut separating said second portion from saidfirst portion.
 11. The combination of claim 10 where said spine memberdisplays marketing text.
 12. The combination of claim 8 where said spineprovides structural support for said scrapbook kit.